hlf

I've used both Penske and Ohlins on various track and street bikes. Both shocks are very good quality. You won't go wrong with either.

High speed compression/rebound adjustment for a street bike is probably of dubious value. Even most track riders don't know how to adjust the high speed circuits; most simply adjust to mid-range and never touch it afterwards. It's hard enough to get the low speed circuits properly adjusted. For street riding, with the wide variation in pavement you experience, you'll probably never have anything other than a compromise setup anyhow.

The remote preload adjustment on the Ohlins can be handy when you want to reset ride height for the times you carry a passenger or bags. But even that adjustment is only a partial fix for the added weight. You really need stiffer springs, too!

So, for a street bike, the differences between the 2 shocks will not likely be any real world advantage.

I'd recommend that you go with the Penske, if for no other reason than you're already spending a fortune at Traxxion for the AK-20's. The Traxxion folks will know how to setup the Penske, and they can give you good advice for working with the combination of the AK-20's and the Penske shock. The better customer service and single source of advice is more important than the shock differences.

Finally, one advantage to the Penske is that replacement parts are less expensive than Ohlins, and the Penske tends to be easier to transfer to other bikes.

You'll love the improvement over the stock suspension stuff! These suspension upgrades really do make a huge difference. Good luck!

I think riding a motorcycle is inherently selfish and somewhat irresponsible, but I love to do it, so I've been doing it too. Think about it: we're subjecting ourselves to unnecessary risk to the detriment of our lives and the lives of those around us because we want to, not need to.

Are you trying to convince us of these "facts"? Or yourself?

I only know you from what you have posted here, so the sentiments you express might be your true beliefs. But, I must admit some skepticism. The above statements are written as broad generalizations. They reflect the conventional wisdom of societal norms; not your inner, personal, beliefs. No such generalization is applicable to human pursuits; we each come to everything we do with unique gifts and perspectives.

I know those statements are not true for me. Motorcycling is a very important aspect of my life. I associate freedom, balance, sensation, peace, beauty, and nature with motorcycling. Motorcycling allows me to express mastery of a craft, revel in kinesthetic sensations, experience nature, explore new places, thrill to speed. It's a meditation on bliss, competence, self-reliance, passion, fear, soul. It gives me time to reflect on my business life, relationships, and spiritual nature. It is critical time alone. Motorcycling brings me in contact with other passionate people in the world. Motorcycling brings me joy. Motorcycling makes me a happier and better person. Neither I, nor the people who love me, would ever describe my involvement as irresponsible or a detriment to our lives.

Even the risks of riding have positive aspects. Risks focus your awareness. Activities with some risk require the participants to pay attention to what you are doing. Casual and indifferent participants leave the sport, leaving those who are passionate about what they are doing. Personally, I find passion critical to happiness.

I would recommend that you take the time to determine your own unique and personal relationship to motorcycling. Don’t settle for a platitude; find your inner truth. Two books that speak to the variety of experience and meaningfulness of motorcycling are Garri Garripoli’s “Tao of the Ride” and Melissa Holbrook Pierson’s “The Perfect Vehicle”. They may help you see the potential beauty of riding.

I don’t mean to sell motorcycling to you. Motorcycling may well not be your thing. Perhaps some other activity elicits passion and gives you joy. It's important to find that passion. Go for it! But don’t settle for someone else’s view of what that activity should be. I wish you happiness!

For a while I've been debating if I should continue riding. I love it to no end, but I've had some spills and am very aware of my mortality. I used to be one to test my limits and go very fast on the twisties. I was careful, but careless at the same time. Now, I've slowed down and am very cautious. I'm mindful of my surroundings at all times and ride at my pace. However, no matter how careful I am, I can't deny the fact that the risk of injury/death is still there. We can't control what others do in their cars and we can't always avoid the obstacles on the road. My fear is not death or breaking an arm or leg. My fear is paralysis or brain damage and being a burden on my girlfriend or parents for the rest of my life and much of theirs. I feel like it's selfish for me to continue because it's not just my future I could potentially ruin, but that of others.

There is a high degree of cognitive dissonance in this discussion.

Going to a motorcycle enthusiast forum to basically argue that riding is irresponsible is inherently conflicted. Not surprisingly, the members here think the rewards of riding outweigh the risks. But, you dismiss that viewpoint as being “selfish”.

This suggests that you are not being completely honest with yourself. I’d be asking myself:

• How much pleasure do I really get from motorcycling?
  
• Why do I discount the value of recreation in my life?
  
• Do I have a realistic understanding of the risks of death or disabling injury from motorcycling?
  
• Why do I feel the need to protect other people’s future? Am I being overly protective of others at the expense of my own future?
  
• What does my girlfriend actually think about my riding (not just my speculation)? Is she uncomfortable with the risks? Is my girlfriend’s life perspective consistent with my own?
  
• Am I projecting my own fears on to others? Am I using "concern" for others as a more acceptable “reason” for my actions rather than simply owning my own fears?
  
• Am I allowing others (parents, girlfriend, society) too much authority to dictate my choices?
  
• Am I seeking external approval for my “sacrifices” rather than following my own true path?
  
• Am I feeling guilty for really wanting to ride, even though some around me don't like the idea?
  

There is no way for the people around us to be happy if we are not happy ourselves. We all need to be able to express our passions. If you truly love motorcycling and think the risks acceptable, then I believe you are doing yourself, and the people around you, a disservice by quitting riding.

Ultimately, only you can decide if riding is worth the risks. It is a personal choice only you can make. It sounds like you should stop riding, at least temporarily, while you work this out. Just try to be sure that your decision is based on your own, personal, calculation, and not on some projection on others. Good luck!

I'm aware of the pita factor, but just because it's hard/expensive to do, does not mean that it should not be done.

I'm another of the few that agree with you... PM me with your name, address, etc., and I'll lend you a set of slide pin stoppers. I'll just need them back in the not too distant future to do the same valve check on my bike (unfortunately, I don't have a heated garage and it's damn cold right now!).

NC was fabulous all week! I got in 3 rides (600+ miles) with beautiful fall colors, crystal blue sky, upper 60's, and no traffic.

NC Fall Ride

:cheerleader:

I really enjoyed the Cornerspin School when I attended almost 3 years ago. Hoping to do a lot more track days in 2011, I decided to look into Cornerspin again to refresh my riding skills. So, this past weekend, I headed back to school.

Man, Cornerspin is just a blast!

You get a chance to really practice riding at the limit of traction without risking serious injury. The small dirt bikes really give you great feedback, so you can really feel the effect of your riding position, throttle application, weight transfer, etc.

Aaron Stevenson has continued to develop the curriculum, so the school is even better now than in the past. He's taken out some of the more flat-track oriented drills, and focused on feet-up road/track riding skills. You have more time working on lines, corner entry, braking, and getting on the gas early. The school's training tracks allow you to practice every conceivable road condition; decreasing radius turns, banked and off-camber, elevation changes, changing traction conditions, as well as combinations.

This school will have you braking into turns, sliding both wheels, and power sliding out before you know it. You will not be surprised (or panic) when you lose traction. Not only will you gain valuable riding skills, but you will a fun time doing it. My cheeks hurt from smiling! Cornerspin is an educational amusement park!

:cheerleader:

Red Lodge Inn

811 S Broadway Ave, Red Lodge, Montana

(406) 446-2030

The Yodeler Motel in Red Lodge is another great place that is relatively inexpensive. Also, the Bridge Creek Backcountry Kitchen and Wine Bar serves great food in Red Lodge. The Bear Tooth highway from Red Lodge into Yellowstone is in great shape and is a blast to ride!

I don't think the Rev'It Stream gloves are offered anymore (although you do see them on closeout occasionally). They were pretty nice gloves and definitely flowed quite a bit of air. The fingers were a bit short (especially the thumb) for me, however, so are litterally painful to wear. But I have pretty long thumbs, so suspect this would not be a common problem. If you can find them, particularly at close out prices, I'd recommend them.

I ordered the Spidi Race Vent gloves today from Sportbike Track Gear (http://stores.sportbiketrackgear.com), who I've had great service from in the past.

Thanks for the great suggestion!

Spidi Race Vent Gloves at Kneedraggers

Ohhhhh! These look promising! Thanks!

I'm looking for some summer gloves that have good protection and reasonable venting.

I have a pair of Rev'it Stream gloves, which are nice gloves, but Rev'it sizing just does not work for me (the fingers are too short for the body of the glove).

Rev'it Stream

I just got a pair of Held Stream gloves from NewEnough, but I don't like the fact that they don't have a good retention strap at the base of your wrist to make sure the glove stays on. (Having a glove pulled off your hand in a crash is not an experience I want to repeat...).

Held Stream

Any suggestions?

Ha! Just getting wet and letting the gear dry out may be the best choice!

I think Frogg Toggs are great; they just don't fit me. I'll have to keep looking...

I heading out on a long motorcycle trip and am looking for good rain gear to go over a mesh riding suit.

So, I'm looking for:

• Good rain protection
  
• To be used above 80 degrees
  
• Something that breathes enough to avoid becoming a sauna
  

While price is not the first criteria, I'm not ready to step up to something like the BMW KlimaKomfort gear ($600).

I don't really care if it's 1-piece or 2-piece design.

I have used, and liked, Frogg Toggs, but they are just too short in the pants for my waist size, which always ends up causing leakage into boots.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

I used to wear them from time to time, defiantly cut down the wind noise and made for a much nicer ride. Now, I have speakers in my helmet and I think music makes for and even better ride. I want to get some kinda volume booster cause at highway speeds and beyond I can barley hear it, if I can get it loud enough to hear through earplugs then I would start wearing them again.

Oh, man, you are just boosting the music volume over the already too high wind noise. This is not good for your ears. Look into some good ear speakers (e.g., Etymotic Research ER6's) that will both quiet the wind noise, and sound a lot better than any helmet speaker.

If you value your hearing, you wear ear plugs. :biggrin:

Keep in mind that lowering the gearing also has as an added bonus of "tightening up" the gearing. i.e., it will make the transmission more "close ratio" - yeah, that was the term I was looking for.

Actually, not. The RPM drop between gears remains the same.

I prefer the stock gearing, downshifting when I need more acceleration. I tried the -1 countershaft sprocket, and the minuses outweigh the pluses.

Also, changing gearing screws up the speedo, which means you either get a Speedo-Healer, or live with inaccurate odometer (the speedo's not that accurate to begin with...).

Thanks for your suggestions and observations.

I think that we both made mistakes here. Neither of us not fully appreciated the impact of our actions on the other rider.

My buddy and I each ride our own ride; we don't try to make decisions for the other rider. Leading, I don't try to judge my passes with the expectation that I have to allow space for my buddy to make the pass at the same time. Following, he certainly does not assume that I'm making the pass judgment for him, either. Independently, our decisions were not bad; I could easily abort my pass and pull back in safely, and he, better prepared for the pass and on a faster bike, could make the pass safely.

Ironically, our independent thinking and familiarity with each other (after literally 100’s of passes the previous 3 days) fostered complacency.

Perhaps our biggest error, however, was not fully appreciating the affect of fatigue on our judgment. We were both pretty tired. It took both of us making mistakes at the same time to really put us in danger. I should have been more conservative with my passing, making sure that I was fully prepared to pass and only attempting easy passes. My friend should have also been more conservative, allowing for room for error (on both our parts).

I think the take away for me is to be more aware of how I am feeling and adjust my riding actions to better suit my mental and physical condition. It’s easy to overestimate one’s capacity (or at least it’s very easy to underestimate it’s diminishment!).

I was riding with a friend in the mountains of WV this past weekend, and we had a pretty scary moment. This was a situation that I've not really seen described before, and I was wondering how others on the BB would handle it.

First, we're both pretty experienced riders and have ridden thousands of miles together without incident. We ride pretty quickly, so do a lot of passing over the course of the day. I was leading this day. My buddy often follows me when I pass a vehicle, but certainly makes his own decisions about the safety of following or waiting for a better (safer) opportunity.

It was the end of a long day (lots of miles, cold temperatures, and lots of mixed wet/dry pavement), so we were both probably more fatiqued than we realized. I came up behind a pickup and when a reasonable straight section of road came up, I pulled out to pass. Unfortunately, it was an up hill section of road and I hadn't bothered to downshift, so my acceleration was limited. With a car coming in the left lane, I decided to abort the pass (something I need to do very rarely) and stood on the brakes, planning to pull back in behind the pickup. Before moving back right behind the pickup, I noticed a headlight in my mirror rapidly closing from behind; my buddy had downshifted his R1 a couple of gears and had really accelerated to follow me around. I stayed in the left lane, and my buddy passed between me and the pickup probably doing 40+ MPH faster than me at that point. If I had pulled right, he would have tail ended me going significantly faster.

Talking with my friend afterward, he said that he had seen me pull out to pass, but then focused on the pickup we were passing and the car in the oncoming lane, and kind of lost track of me. When he realized I had braked, he was going a lot faster and he could only try to make the opening between me and the pickup we were passsing.

My initial inclination is to say that the following rider is responsible for paying attention to the leading rider, but I also have to say that I might easily have done exactly the same thing my buddy did if I was following. Frankly, I think I was pretty tired at the end of the day and probably misjudged the pass; it was probably safely makeable or my buddy would not have thought he could follow safely.

So, how do we prevent a repeat? Can you suggest riding rules to avoid an unpleasant outcome?

I suspect we both did not fully appreciate that our fatigue. I made a bad pass decision, and, potentially, a worse abort decision. My friend didn't pay enough attention to me during the pass.

Your thoughts? I don't want to repeat this if I don't have to!

I've been doing full revalves (I'm guessing the Aftershocks was just a compression revalve) and new springs for $245. Maybe I'm not charging enough!

I think Aftershocks does both compression and rebound. But, still, you have a great price! And it sounds like you've done plenty of VFR work.

I just wanted to suggest that you can find good improvements in fork action from relatively inexpensive options.

Another alternative you might consider is just modifying the stock internals. Quite a few VFR riders have had good luck with Aftershocks revalving. Call Phil at Aftershocks (www.aftershocks-suspension.com). He can set up the forks for your weight and riding style. It's been a while since I had mine done, but it was only about $300 to have the revalve, plus cut your stock spring to increase the spring rate. A very cost effective solution. The money you save will go a long way toward funding a good rear shock, too!

My current set-up is a PP front and Road 2 rear, I've found No better combo to provide confidence, grip wet or dry or wear resistance Period!

:angry:

I found the PP front lasted through 2 PP rears, so the combination of PP front and PR2 rear seems to balance the wear. I would think that a PR2 front would last longer on the front, but give up a little traction.

I have a Tourmaster Synergy jacket, which has worked very well. Just be careful with the controller cable attachment to the jacket. It is only a fairly flimsy grommet in the nylon jacket cover, and can tear out pretty easily. I managed to catch the controller on a restaurant chair... The Gerbing jackets "power distribution unit" attachment appears to be a much more rugged.

KurveyGirl has metal valve stems (straight and 90 degree) at decent prices, with great service: http://kurveygirl.com/shop/index.php?cPath...925a4d803af2b3d

My oil was dark black trash at 6,000 mile on the VFR, much better looking at 15,000 same oil SS8

I had my forks revalved, spring rate changed, new seals and oil by AfterShocks only about 5000 miles ago, and that oil is dark black trash now, too! I don't understand why suspension oil disintegrates so quickly (sheesh, motor oil lasts almost as long in a much harsher enviroment).

are ya sure your not looking at the non coated side of his bushing, all his wear sides still have a good layer of teflon.

You are right. The slider bushing wear surface is the inside surface. I was looking at a weird wear pattern on the outside copper surface and not thinking about how the fork works!

Still, if you are going to the trouble to take your forks apart, and you don't do this on a frequent basis, then replacing the bushings seems like a reasonable thing to do.

Many aftermarket suspension company's sell low friction/stiction bushings too, more money but can improve the feel.

Who makes low friction bushings for late model VFR's? Do you have any recommendations? Thanks!